


Always

by CitybytheBayside



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 23:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11000913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitybytheBayside/pseuds/CitybytheBayside
Summary: Struggling to hone his newfound Hardening abilities, a grim thought sets Eren off in an unexpected way. Set during the period between Chapter 69 and 70. So Manga spoilers.





	Always

"He's still struggling." Hange remarked.

"No shit." Levi responded, sipping from his canteen. It was a hot day out and they were cracking on testing his hardening abilities. As it had been for a few days now, Eren was looking weak and exhausted. His Titan form was struggling to maintain a full form and Eren was clearly taking a physical toll each time, with bits of skin not growing back at times. His lower jaw was completely gone another time.

"Mikasa is back at the cabin this time, right?" Hange asked, not wanting the devoted friend of Eren's to interfere with the tests. "She was fairly close to killing me for what happened the other day."

Levi mumbled in the negative, jabbing his thumb towards the raven haired girl. She was crouched nearby and observing Eren, likely ready to spring forward should Eren need aid. Hange sighed. Herself and Mikasa typically had no issues with each other, but whenever the situation involved "tinkering" with Eren as Mikasa would put it, Mikasa would get very tense and annoyed with Hange. She begrudgingly abided by the fact she was a superior officer, but would always argue whenever they would press forward with these hardening tests when Eren was clearly exhausted.

Hange sighed. "Mikasa." Hange called out.

The girl turned to her.

"I know these tests upset you, but please know I don't mean to harm Eren. But if we cannot get him to harden, then we cannot hope to plug the hole in Wall Maria."

Mikasa held her gaze for another moment, softly nodding before turning back to face Eren's testing.

"She gets you." Levi said.

* * *

 

Down from the cliff, Eren was heaving harder and harder. Armin stood nearby.

"I know it's painful, Eren but I think we're gonna wrap up soon."

Eren shook his head. "No." he panted. "We wrap up...when I fucking harden."

"That won't happen if you don't pace yourself." Armin warned.

"Ok. Let's try this again." He bit his hand, transforming. The Titan was yet again malformed. Ribs were visible and noticeably more gaunt than it's normal appearance.

"Damn it." Eren muttered to himself. "Yet another fuckup. They hell's going on?"

_Thank you. For being with me._

The flash of that memory took him off guard.

_Thank you. For teaching me how to live._

Why this? Why now? he thought.

 _Thank you. For wrapping your scarf around me_.

 _Always_. He firmly told himself.

He exited this Titan, this time only missing the top of a few fingers.

"Oi, Armin! Tell Jaeger we're gonna only do one more for the day. It's midday and we all need to still stack wood today. Jaeger included." Levi called down.

Mikasa looked at him. Levi looked at her.

"He's not excused from chores just because of these tests."

Armin approached Eren. "You hear him?"

Eren nodded, sucking in air quickly. His head was still flashing around with old memories, the anger he felt when Reiner and Bertolt revealed themselves, the anger when he fought Annie, and the anger of his mothers death. He transformed again, with a similar result to last time.

"Goddamnit!" he seethed. Suddenly another thought ran through his mind. It looked like a memory, but not one he remembered.

He saw Mikasa, kneeled down in a field. She was covered in blood. Behind her was a hoarde of Titans, gunning for her. She just kept still until one of the Titans grabbed her.

"NOOOOOOO" he roared.

His Titan suddenly regenerated it's missing skin and gained a lot more muscle mass. It then began to coat itself in a hard shell.

"Oh my god. He did it!" Armin cheered.

"Finally." Levi muttered. "About-"

Before he could finish his thought, Eren's Titan exploded into flames.

"EREN!" Mikasa screamed, shooting towards him. Levi gave chase, snatching her like he did in the forest.

"Oi, are you stupid? You could burn yourself!"

"He could die!" she cried back.

The nape of the neck opened and Eren fell out, engulfed in flames.

"EREN!" she screamed again, squirming in Levi's grip.

Armin removed his cloak and shot towards Eren and wrapped him up in it, both landing as the cloak put the flames out. Levi landed nearby. Mikasa immediately pushed herself away and ran to Eren. She gasped when Armin peeled the cloak back and showed Eren severely burned with no hair and a majority of his body charred. Somehow he was still breathing. Mikasa was on the verge of tears.

"Eren, what happened?" Armin asked.

" _...can't...her_." Eren weakly responded.

"What?" Armin asked.

" _Not her_." he murmured more audibly. " _You're not...taking...her from me_." Eren then passed out.

* * *

 

"Eren." a soft voice sounded.

His eyes fought to roll open.

"Eren. Wake up."

The eyelids finally parted, and Eren was looking up at his mother, Carla.

_"What is it, mom? It's still nighttime."_

_"I want you to go check on Mikasa. I heard her crying from the living room."_

_Eren sat up. "Why is she crying?"_

_"She's probably having nightmares about that night." Carla responded, referencing the horrible murder that occurred not even a week ago._

_Eren hopped out of his bed and went to the living room. They had set Mikasa up in the living room until they could figure out something better for her. Eren was helping his father build her a bed. Sure enough, he could hear her soft whimpering. He hated that sound. He only knew her a week but he hated to see her sad._

_"Mikasa?" he called_

_The whimpering ceased and Mikasa peeked her head around the arm of the sofa._

_"Eren. You should be sleeping." she said, wiping her eyes._

_"Same could be said for you." he replied, climbing up onto the sofa. Mikasa sat up and tucked her knees up to her chin. The red scarf he gave her still wrapped around her neck._

_"It must be hard. To move past what happened, huh?" he asked._

_She nodded, looking down. Those big grey eyes of hers looking sad._

_"And I wish I could make it not hurt so much. I don't know how to. I don't know how exactly you're feeling."_

_Her mouth was hidden behind the scarf, slightly muffling her voice._

_"Being near you...it makes me feel better."_

_"Yeah?"_

_She nodded in response. "I feel safe when you're around."_

_Eren kept his gaze on her. He then moved closer to her as she looked up. He manoeuvred her into his lap and rested his head against hers. She squeaked out a small sound of surprise._

_"If that's the case, then I'll keep you close. I'll keep you safe. Always."_

_Her eyes widened. "Always?" she asked._

_He nodded. "Always." he firmly stated. "I swear it."_

_She wrapped her arms around him, Eren doing the same to her. They wound up falling asleep that way._

* * *

 

Eren woke up. He felt sore slightly, as if he hadn't moved in awhile. As he sat up, he saw Armin sitting near him. The blonde boy sat up straight.

"Eren. You're awake." he said.

"Yeah." Eren murmured softly. "How long was I asleep for? Felt like-"

"A week? Cause that's how long you were out for."

Eren's eyes widened.

"You were engulfed in flames. Guess the serum takes awhile to heal burns like that."

Eren took a second to feel his face. Skin was restored and his hair was grown again. He sighed. A week lost. And he still wasn't able to-

"At least you can take the small victory that you were hardened for a second."

Eren shot his look towards Armin. "What?"

"Yeah, right before you "exploded". It looked cool."

 _How bout that?_   Eren thought.

"It makes me wonder though." Armin spoke. "After all those botched attempts, what caused it to happen this time? And why did it cause you to catch fire?"

Eren thought, trying to remember that moment.

_She just kept still until one of the Titans grabbed her._

His eyes widened, remembering it was not actually happening in case what happened last time happened again.

"What is it?" Armin asked.

"Where's Mikasa at?" Eren asked back.

"Levi pried her out of here only yesterday to work on her share of the chores. She'd probably still be in here if Levi didn't disallow her seeing you until her chores were done." Armin replied.

Eren got out of the bed.

"You feeling ok to move?" Armin asked.

"Yeah. Gonna go see if I can find Mikasa. I need to talk to her."

"Ok." Armin said. "It's my turn to clean the equipment. I should go do that."

Armin went to the door, but turned back to look at Eren. "I'm glad you woke up. Some were getting concerned you wouldn't."

Eren nodded at him as he left. Eren slid on a brown cardigan before exiting the room himself. He walked down the hall and into the general dining area/kitchen.

There stood Mikasa, sweeping the floor quickly and somehow quietly. Her red scarf was draped over a chair.

"Hey." he called. She froze, the broom falling to the ground. She turned quickly around and saw him standing there.

"Eren! You're awake!" she exclaimed, moving towards him. She took his hand in hers. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much."

She looked to the ground. "It scared me. When you were suddenly on fire. I wish I was there when you woke up."

"I know." he responded, knowing her nature off the back of his hand at this point.

"I thought of a lot of things in my Titan."

Mikasa looked up at him again.

"Things I thought that could motivate me to finally succeed. Like I normally do. But for whatever reason nothing was working."

Mikasa' furrowed her brow slightly, trying to understand what he was trying to say.

"Then this image came into my head. And it scared me. It pissed me off. After that, everything else went fuzzy."

"What was it?" she asked.

Eren mulled whether to tell her, because it was a very extreme thought.

"Eren?"

"I imagined that I lost you." he responded.

Her eyes widened. "What?" she asked.

Eren sighed. "I imagined that you were hurt and then I lost you. It made me furious."

He reached to the chair and plucked up the scarf. "Not just because you were hurt. But that it made me realize...though it hadn't happened...I broke my promise to you."

Mikasa looked confused.

"I told you that I would keep you safe." he said, wrapping the fabric around her neck. It bundled around it, covering up her chin and mouth. "I have zero intentions of ever breaking that promise, Mikasa. From here to the end of my days, I will keep you close. I will keep you safe." He rested his head against hers. "Always."

Tears streamed down her face as she hugged onto him. He placed a kiss to her forehead and hugged her too. It was a bumpy road ever since they first met, and for a period of time he lost sight of his vow to her when they joined up into the army, but the days of pushing Mikasa away were gone. They'd stay together for as long as he had anything to say about it.


End file.
